San Jose, Calif. -- Dajuan Coleman was waiting to hear the magic words. He was waiting to hear Jim Boeheim stroll down the Syracuse bench and beckon him into the basketball game.

“After my surgery, I’ve just been waiting, working out and waiting to get back out there,” Coleman said. “And today, I got out there and did pretty good.”

Coleman played 15 minutes in Syracuse’s 81-34 NCAA Tournament win over Montana. He scored 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.

At 6-foot-9 and 275 pounds, he made his size matter against a smaller, comparatively timid Grizzlies front line.

“I thought getting Dajuan in there, I think he showed some of the things he can do offensively,” Boeheim said. “He’s had some good practices and it was good to be able to get him out there and get him in that game. And I thought he did a really good job.”

Coleman, the freshman from Jamesville-DeWitt High School, had surgery on Jan. 29 to repair the meniscus in his knee. He did not play in eight straight Syracuse games. Nor did he see a minute of action in the Big East Tournament.

He was an imposing presence on the HP Pavilion court on Thursday. Twice, he dunked with such ferocity, the backboard swayed.

“That’s what I tried to do,” he said. “Every time I got the ball, I just tried to make it or get a foul. Just get the defense to back up a little bit. Because once you dunk, they kind of back up and you get easy buckets after that.”

Coleman took nine shots in 15 minutes vs. Montana. The Orange looked for him inside and Coleman also collected three missed Syracuse shots off the backboard. He seemed thrilled, afterward, to recount his contributions to his team.

“It’s a big confidence booster,” he said. “When coach put me in, I just figured, ‘This is my opportunity.’ And I just thank my teammates for believing in me and giving me the ball.”